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Americans throw out billions of dollars worth of uneaten food each year, much of which is food that spoils too quickly for consumption.

Bread is one of the hardest vittles to make last. If left unfrozen, the shelf life on a typical loaf is about seven days.

Now, American company Microzap says it has developed a technique that could keep bread fresh for two months.

According to its site, the technology was developed by engineers around the world, including scientists from Texas Tech University.

In a nutshell, researchers use a high-powered microwave that kills off the bacteria that can lead to mold growth without damaging the bread or its taste. They say the same technique could work with fresh meats and produce as well.

The running tab on American food waste is more than $165 billion each year, according to the National Resources Defense Council. More than one-third of wasted foods are grains, followed by seafood and produce.

Says the NFDC:

At the heart [of food waste] are two basic realities that must be acknowledged upfront. The first is that food represents a small portion of many Americans' budgets, making the financial cost of wasting food too low to outweigh the convenience of it. Second, there is the plain economic truth that the more food consumers waste, the more those in the food industry are able to sell.

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Editors' Picks

They have never tried Nature's Own bread. We bought a loaf for the office that never got used. A few months later we were shocked it was still the same as the day it was purchased. It sat uneaten as a test for a full year before it ever got hard and nasty. The shelf life was likely helped by never having opened and handled the bread, but still makes you wonder what is in there.